A Romance to Remember

by KasperaUno

Kelley is all tangled up. Between her Dad and leaving for Military Camp, she's lost. She meets Eryk and things fall into place. But of course, as in all things, the fail. There becomes a twisted triangle, reappearances and deaths that wrap up the ending.

A Romance To Remember

KasperUno

Prologue

This is just another one of those boring soap opera tragedies. You know the one where a boy meets a girl. Everything falls into place, but then the boy loses the girl. The girl falls in love with another boy, that boy dies. The girl falls for the dead boy's best friend.

Yes, that is somewhat how this story goes.

WARNING: Reject able Romance Within! (; (wink)

Part 1

Chapter 1

I walked down the air-conditioned hallway to my locker to get my jacket. I was finally leaving to go to camp and I was glad, I didn't have to worry about going back home, or even worry about getting gas or food or anything! It was all in my car.

Thank god. I didn't want to have to put up with my Dad today. He would throw another temper tantrum and probably throw more plates at me. Mom's good china plates…all destroyed.

I checked out at the attendance office and practically ran to my car. It was a 5 hour drive to the camp and I was going to enjoy this…freedom. I was going to be working my ass off for the next however long, so my relaxation in my used four wheel drive tracker would be nice but I couldn't help being a little sad.

I would miss my friends, the soccer team and I would miss the comfort of having a home to go back to. The only thing I was worried about was my Dad. He couldn't cook or clean and he was a very violent man, with a hefty criminal record. That's why my Mom left…she was sick and she couldn't have me and my brothers. Therefore, she willingly left me behind.

The wind was blowing harder as I sped down the highway and as I merged over to exit for the camp, a huge gust of wind blew a piece of paper into the backseat.

"Ughh, I'll get it later, damn idiotic people! Why can't you throw your shit in the trash?" I muttered, frustrated.

I turned on the radio and sang along to a song that nobody listened to anymore but one that everyone knew anyway.

I smiled as I saw the sign that said, 'Military Camp-Training and Punishment.' Only two more miles, all in the forest with no one around.

I couldn't wait.

I walked down the long corridor, the heat was enough to melt a diamond, but that's not what bothered me. I'd been sitting in a waiting room for four days and the General still hadn't given me anything. Aside from food of course.

Finally, the General had made his decision on letting me stay. I very much disliked the man, partly because he scared me to death all the time, with his dread locks, greasy beard and too tight suit.

*Knock Knock* I tapped on his office door, cautious as ever.

"Enter." I heard a muffled scrape of the chair he sat in, as if he was the King. Yeah, right.

I opened the door as I put o my 'tough bitch' face.

"Good Afternoon Kelley." General Tracey said, smiling with his black gums and non-existent teeth.

"Good Afternoon, Sir." I answered, my sholders squared, confidence in my voice.

"At ease." he said, smirking at my form and manner.

"Thank you, Sir." I said clasping my hands behind my back, a smile playing at the edges of my lips.

"Well, Kelley, I got a very interesting call from your father. He thinks you've eloped with your boyfriend…and you gave him my number?" General Tracey smiled and nodded slightly.

"I left him a note that said that, but I didn't give him a number. You don't have a number. I tried to find it, so I would know." I said, knowing he'd called my father himself.

"Kelley, you ran away from home, dropped out of high school, and deceived you father. Can you explain yourself?" The General asked.

"IF you knew what my father was like, you'd leave too. And there's no way that my father called because my father could care less about me!" I argued, getting frustrated. Liars annoyed me.

"You have excellent deduction skills, and very good physical records and outstanding academic scores. Though I'm sad that you dropped out of school, you are smart enough to be able to think before you act when it comes to decisions such as leaving a very good public school that you went to." The General said, and it sounded like the same thing he said to everyone, "Since you are unable to pay tuition, if you take care of your own dishes and help around the camp, you will be allowed to stay, cost free. Welcome to Boot Camp!" He added, handing me a piece of paper that said 'cabin 4a' as he gestured for me to leave his office.

The camp was big, clean and orderly, which was surprising because this was a boy's camp. They seem to think that all girls are angels who like roses and the color pink. Quite the contrary for me. Roses were disgusting and made everything smell bad. The color pink…is ghastly and makes me think of that foul smelling perfume that's popular among girls.

I rethought the cleanliness statement when I saw cabin 4a. It was easy enough to find, but it was a mess. Ughh, 'welcome to military camp Kelley' it said to me, in a taunting tone.

There was only one empty bed, which I was glad to take, because it was the cleanest part of the cabin. I heard voices outside the cabin, coming closer as I started to unpack my clothes.

The door slammed and there was complete silence as the boys saw me, long hair spilling over my shoulders, in a tank top and mesh shorts. Quite the shock to 11 testosterone filled boys. The probably hadn't seen a girl in the flesh for a LONG time and probably were wondering if they were hallucinating.

I stood up and looked at the group of boys.

"Hey guys! I'm your new cabin mate. You can call me Kelley."

There was absolutely no response from the group standing on the threshold.

"Nice to meet you too." I added, kneeling back down to search my bag for a ponytail holder. I pulled my hair back with one hand and wrapped the elastic around my hair, feeling self-conscious because I knew they were all watching me.

One boy stepped forward.

"Who do you think you are?" He asked, he had black hair and medium brown eyes, his features clearly Mexican and he had perfectly straight teeth (the results of braces no doubt) and he looked slightly embarrassed.

"I know who I am, and I just told you! I'm Kelley. Would you care to introduce yourself? Moreover, yes, I really am a girl and yes; I'm in the right place. Any other questions?" I blurted.

He just stared at me with an expression of awe.

"Alright then, let's teach Kelley some of the basics boys," He said, gesturing for them all to walk forward and surround us. "Let's see how good she is in a fist fight."

I smiled, knowing I would win. Fighting was easy and I could already see his weak points. Left shoulder and groin (obviously). I stood ruler straight, letting him think I was going to let him beat me. Yeah right, he could keep on dreaming.

He swung first as I had expected him to do. He swung for my face and I grabbed his fist and twisted it around his back. I shoved him onto the wall and pinned him there.

"Now, it's my turn to teach. I am not your average girl. I could beat the shit out of any of you any day, so get used to it. Today, I have taught lesson number one. Let's not go for lesson number two. Okay?" I said in a menacing voice.

I let him go, he went limp, and I picked him up like a baby, setting him on the nearest cot.

"Now that we've all met, we can all go about our usual lives!" I said enthusiastically, brushing myself off and kneeling by my cot again.

The rest of the boys slowly started to back away. They all went back to their own business. As I soon found out, the black haired boy's cot was the one I'd set him on. When a nasal buzzing sound came on through an intercom in the center of the room, all the boys got up, including the black haired one, who looked at me and my bewildered expression.

"It's dinner time. We go to the mess hall. Follow the crowd." He smirked, a small smile, hidden behind it. "I'm Eryk by the way."

"Thanks. Nice to meet you. Sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to humiliate you." I apologized sarcastically.

"You didn't. I was just surprised. I didn't think you'd beat me that easily… Good reflexes." He said, reluctantly complimenting me.

"Good things come in small packages." I mumbled.

"Yeah, really shocking ones too. Come on let's go. If we don't hurry, we'll have to do push ups while eating."

I lay in my cot that night thinking. The smell of the cabin was overwhelmed by the smell of air fresheners and cologne, but you could still smell the strangely comforting smell of B.O.

I sighed and rolled over. The cots weren't exactly feather beds, but at least they weren't made of rocks. I figured some fresh air would do me some good, so I stepped outside, being as quiet as possible with the squeaky screen door hinges.

I sat on the cold, dark ground and thought of all the people in the cabin. I'd found out so much from just one dinner sitting!

There were 11 of them. Eryk Marsh, my fighting friend, was the nice, gentleman type, who liked bad first impressions for laughs later. Jacob Acklier, the one who didn't talk to me, seemed alright, but he was a little less 'accepting' than the rest of the boys. Then, there was Shawn Farlen, who was a little odd…and Caleb West, who was always staring into space. There was one who stood out more than the others and that was Jamie Sane, who was the exact opposite of his last name. The other six were Eryk's friends and they were the nicest and didn't stare…too much.

They were Brian Tusselman, Frankie Viviano, Mark Isler, Dustin Carlton, Lance Drisdil and finally, Alex Kulming. Jacob was another one of Eryk's friends, but he didn't fit in the 'nice' category.

The screen door squeaked behind me, waking me from my thinking stupor, and I turned to see Eryk coming out of the cabin.

"Hi,' I said, "What're you doing up?"

"I could ask you the same thing." He said sitting on the step closest to the ground.

"I can't sleep, those beds are like rocks. No, I'd be more comfortable if I was sleeping on a flat rock. It'd be softer." I said in a sarcastic, joking tone.

"Yeah but when you get the padding Tracey will give you, it'll get MUCH better." He said, smiling down at me.

"I hope so, because for as hard as military camp will be, I'm going to need my back in tip-top shape." I said, looking into the blackness.

It was nice, having someone to talk to. Someone who didn't know my Dad and didn't know my titles at school. Eryk was someone who didn't care about who I was then. He didn't even seem to care about who I was now.

"I want to apologize again for being so rude earlier." Eryk said.

"There's no need." I said, "It was fun. I haven't had a fist fight in almost a month."

Eryk glanced up at me with a bewildered expression.

"I have anger management issues." I explained to him in answer to his stare.

"Oh. So, you could just get a little mad and beat the crap out of someone?" Eryk asked, a smile forming on his face.

"No." I said and his smile faded, "I've been working on it. It takes A LOT now to get me THAT angry."

"That's good. I would like to keep my limbs intact." he smiled again, a real smile. One of those smiles that makes you want to smile with them.

Eryk and I talked about sports, our likes and dislikes for about an hour more then went to bed. Before I fell asleep on my 'rock', I was thinking about how much Eryk was like me…ironic and weird.

Likes and Dislikes

Favorite

Kelley

Eryk

Sport

Hockey

Football

Color

Blue

Blue

Food

Mac 'n' cheese

Sheppard's Pie

Car

GMC

GMC

Movie

Jumper

Jumper

Book

Fast As Ever

Second Shots

There were many, many more than this, but these were just a few. I found the violent sports thing ironic. Maybe he had anger management problems too. That'd be somewhat funny.

Chapter 2

It has been a year since I arrived at this camp. Eryk and I are the two oldest people at this camp and this will be our last year here.

I'm not really sure what I'm going to do when I'm finished here…I'd miss my buddies. Especially Eryk, we are like…best friends!

The strange thing is that sometimes, he looked at me all-weird. Whenever I complimented him, he'd smile and blush a little bit. Maybe I was in denial. On the other hand, was I imagining things? Alternatively, maybe, just maybe, I loved him.

The thought made me feel sick. Ughh…Eryk? Romance? Those two words don't belong in the same sentence unless the words 'is not' were between them. Eryk was so…Eryk. Moreover, romance didn't seem like his thing. Nevertheless, who knows? I could be very wrong.

Moreover, I soon found out how wrong I really was.

It's 5 am, my usual running time, Eryk was up, ready to run with me, as usual. He liked to keep me company as I ran around.

"Good Morning." I whispered as I wrapped my hair into an elastic ponytail holder. It yanked at my scalp and I winced.

Eryk nodded as he shoved his feet into his Adidas running shoes.

Outside, the air was chilly; fog was everywhere.

"Maybe we shouldn't run today. Do to the fact that we can't see." Eryk suggested.

"We could hold a knife in front of us and cut through the fog!" I said, in an extremely sarcastic tone. I sat down on the steps in front of the cabin's porch and pouted. I really had wanted to run today, especially after that dream…

"Mind if I sit with you?" He asked before sitting down next to me.

"Nope." I sighed and closed my eyes.

After a few minutes of silence, Eryk spoke.

"You know, we've been friends for a year now and you've yet to tell me about your family." he hinted.

Wasn't that just like Eryk? Pulling much unwanted (but much needed) conversations right out of thin air.

"My home life, there's nothing really to talk about…" I said, hoping he'd drop the subject. Crying isn't something I really wanted to do in front of anyone, especially Eryk.

"There's got to be something. Your dad's name? Brothers, sisters? Mom's name?" Eryk pressed on, making a pest of himself.

"My mom's name was Madison, my Dad's name was Carson and I had four brothers. Andrew, Frankie, Charlie and Ron. Now, are you happy?" I spit out, pissed that he had to FORCE me to remember them.

To remember that they were gone…

That my Mom didn't want me…

That my Dad beat me…

I turned away from him, tears welling over. I hastily wiped them off my face, disposing of the evidence.

I felt Eryk take my hand, rubbing it, to soothe me. I turned towards him, a huge mistake. He was looking at my hand and I couldn't seem to control myself.

I took my hand out of his and wrapped my arms around his neck, crying into his shoulder.

'You idiot! You're ruining everything, he likes you! Don't encourage him! QUIT HUGGING HIM!' My mind screamed at me, but the feeling that I got when his arms were around me was too much for me to handle. However, he was hugging me back! He was letting me soil his shirt in salty tears!

"Shh," he said, as if he understood, "It'll be okay."

"No, it won't." I said, "I have to go back after camps over."

"Why?" He asked my pain seemed to be his pain by the sound of his voice. "Why does that make you sad? I don't understand."

"My mom abandoned me, leaving me with my father. He's an alcoholic and beat me constantly. My brothers left with my Mom. There has been no contact for almost 10 years. It just hurts an awful lot. I guess…"I said to his shoulder. I let go of him, but he would not release me.

He rocked me back and forth. In the silence, I regained me self-control and realized I'd been wrong.

Eryk could be very romantic and he cared about me. More than I'd thought anyway. I'd thought that Eryk had like…a disability with romance. He just never seemed like that kind of a person to me. Of course, there's always the possibility that I was just having a bad case of the 'Denial Syndrome' which is a fake disease that cases a person to deny anything.

But, as much as I didn't want to move, I could hear the boys getting up inside. I'd be mortally humiliated if anyone saw us in our…embrace.

I slid away from him and stood up. As I came to the door, I turned and looked at him, watching me from the steps.

"Thanks." I said, "It's nice to have a shoulder to cry on sometimes."

"Kelley, we're best friends. I think it's customary to be there for each other in a time of need." He said, I smiled and walked through the cabin's wooden door.

I sat outside, waiting for the dinner bell to ring. All the boys were passed out inside. We had all had a hell of a day. Today had been drill team day and we had to run every single drill that we knew. It was painful and all the newbies hurt like hell. For me though, I'd already completed the training 6 times, so my endurance was a lot higher than theirs, making me the first to finish and the last to pass out.

The screen door creaked. I didn't have to turn, I knew it was Eryk.

"Gone back to sleepless days?" He asked, sitting next to me. He was close, but the same amount of space between us as usual, I was just more aware of him and his body heat.

I felt the odd urge to reach out and hold his hand, to touch his face…

'Control' I thought to myself.

Through a very difficult session of mental discipline, I managed to control my desires.

Then, I remembered he had asked me a question. Sleepless days?

"No. I just wasn't tired enough for sleep.' I said, leaning away from him a bit.

"Kelley…" He looked like he was about to say something important, "No sleep is bad for you."

So much for importance. It was silent for a few minutes.

"That's not what I was going to say." He mumbled, "Sweet Jesus! I can't say it!"

"Say what?" I asked, freaking out by his distress.

"I can't tell you that I love you!" He blurted, and then went bright pink. "Damn." I said, fir lack of a better word.

He got up and started to walk away, but I stepped in front of him. I threw my arms around him to stop him. He seemed extremely shy and so adorable!

We didn't say anything, but I knew that he was serious about what he'd said. The dinner bell rang and we broke our encirclement.

He was silent all through dinner. Our friends all joked around and threw food. I quietly poked at my potatoes and tried to eat, but the butterflies in my stomach were driving me crazy.

The half hour of dinner seemed like hours. I wanted to talk to Eryk and at dinner, everyone could hear everything that you said. Not the wisest idea, considering what he had just said to me.

Therefore, I smiled and answered questions about video games and school classes. I pretended Eryk hadn't told me that…that he…that he had those feelings.

Everything seemed the same. Strangely, I felt like there was something I was supposed to be doing, but what? What was I supposed to do?

I loved him, but not like that. At least, I don't think I did…

It's not as if I'd know. I'm just a girl surrounded by testosterone-fueled boys.

Girls Heaven! Just kidding.

Nevertheless, the dilemma was enough to bother me while I was lying in bed, waiting for sleep just like every night.

In the morning, I awoke to find Eryk gone, probably out running. All of the other boys were sound asleep. I got out of my now comfortable (padding saves lives; get yourself some) cot and slipped my big feet into my running shoes.

Outside, it was still pretty dark, the sun was just begun to pour its rays over the edge of the horizon. As I looked around, I saw Eryk, fast asleep.

He was leaning against the posts that we usually leaned against, and sitting in his usual spot.

"Eryk, wake up!" I said, shaking him.

H e opened his eyes sleepily and the shut them again. I sat next to him, closer than usual. His cheeks blushed the slightest bit.

"Wake up." I said, pushing him in the shoulder.

He didn't budge.

Therefore, I decided to try a different tactic. Even though I'd never kissed anyone in my entire life, I summed up the little bit of kissing I'd seen in school and on television and did my best.

The second our lips touched, his eyes flew open. In his surprise, he fell backwards off the steps.

"Hahahaha. Are you-ha ha-okay?" I asked, laughing so hard that I almost fell off the stairs as well!

"Yeah." He whispered, getting up and brushing the dirt off his front. I smiled at him and he looked at me, a nervous smile-forming on his lips. He brushed my hair out f my face and gently kissed me.

He was so much better at it than I was. His lips were warm, I noticed, but mine probably were too. Duh, it's not as if we're warm blooded or anything!

Our lips lingered for a few moments and when I opened my momentarily closed eyes; his chocolate brown ones were staring into mine.

I reluctantly pulled my face away from his. He wrapped his arms around my waist and held me. I smiled, again, and leaned against him.

Later that night, the General called Eryk and I to his office.

"Have we done something wrong, Sir?" I asked when he gave us a stern look. He laughed and smiled when I was finished with my question.

"Of course not." General Tracey said, "I only called you here to let you know that you're too old to stay here. You're done with your tests and passed with flying colors." he added.

"So, basically you're sending us home?" Eryk asked, glancing at me, a worried look on his face.

However, I wasn't going to go home.

"You're legal adults. Do whatever you want! But you can't stay here! Be gone in six hours. Dismissed." The General ordered, waving his right hand. We left the General's office silently and went back to cabin 4a to pack. We said goodbye to all our buddies and wished them all luck in the years to come.

When Eryk and I got to the parking garage where my car was, he finally spoke.

"Can you give me a ride?" He asked, "I don't have a car here."

"Oh. Sure. Hop in." I said, unlocking the trunk of my car and shoving all of my bags into the nonexistent space. "You'll have to put your bags in the backseat. There's no room back here." I added.

He didn't say anything as he eased his bags into the backseat of my tiny tracker.

I pulled out of the parking garage and turned on the radio. After a few years of not having music, the style had changed. It sounded like a noise your refrigerator would make if you left the door open for too long.

I ignored the music for the most part and thought about how Eryk had kissed me. It was so strange…he seemed like such a jock-boy that was too focused on sports and college scholarships to pay any attention to girls. It had never occurred to me that Eryk and I could go farther than just kissing. There was so much more than I'd let myself believe.

Eryk reached over and turned the radio down. I looked over at him.

"Kelley, where're you going to go after you drop me off?" He asked, "Take a left." He directed.

I turned at the intersection. "I don't know. Maybe I'll go back to school."

"That'd be kind of neat…I guess. But I was wondering if you'd want to stay with me? Until you find a place, I mean…" Eryk offered.

"Oh, that's sweet of you, but I wouldn't want to impose or anything. Which way?"

"Take a right…you wouldn't be imposing. I'd like you t stay."

And that was that. Before I knew it, I was staying with Eryk, as happy as can be.

Chapter 3

It took us a month.

One month and we knew that my stay was permanent. When our movie nights ended up with us curled up side by side under a blanket on the couch, we knew.

I was working at the local pizza parlor and Eryk was training for the military. I was not too happy about the fact that Eryk was being recruited in six months.

"Eryk, are you here?" I called out as I locked the front door behind me.

"Hi, Kel." Eryk called back, hugging me. I reached up and pulled his face down so that I could kiss him. He pulled my jacket off and set it on the kitchen table.

He pushed me lightly into the doorframe of the living room.

"I need to take a shower. I probably smell." I whispered into his lips.

"You smell like pizza and I'm hungry." He said, pulling his head back, looking at me. "You want Chinese?"

"Anything but pizza." I said, "Will you let go of me long enough for me to go take a shower?"

"Nope." He insisted, holding me tighter, burying his head in my neck. I patted his back. I wiggled away from him and headed for the bathroom.

"Shrimp fried rice." I said as I grabbed a towel from the hall closet.

"Sure thing."

I washed well, scrubbing away all the evidence of pizza. Maybe I wouldn't dream of the pepperonis coming to life and coming after me to force me to join their cult tonight since I'd gotten rid of my pizza perfume.

I heard talking downstairs. Perhaps his parents were here, but I only heard Eryk's voice and brief pauses. He was on the phone I decided. On the other hand, he was simply ordering the Chinese food. Why was I questioning this?

I went downstairs with my hair up in the turban thing that girls do with towels and as I walked in, Eryk mouthed 'one minute' and held up his pointer finger.

I nodded and went to get a glass of water. As I went about my business, I couldn't help but listen to the conversation. After all, we lived in the same house. There shouldn't be anything to hide.

"Well, hey, yeah. Come over tomorrow. Yep, all right. See you tomorrow Jake." Eryk hung up the phone.

"Jacob's coming by?" I asked as I got out the plates and forks.

"Yeah, he is. We're making plans for something…" Eryk seemed reluctant to continue. I knew better than to press farther, but curiosity killed the cat!

"Guys' escapade weekend?" I hinted, smiling.

"Possibly." He said.

"So that's a yes?" I looked hopeful.

"Maybe." He was just taunting me now.

"So your answer is a no?" I was already in an interrogating mood. Time to be worked up.

"Kind of, sort of."

"Come on Eryk. Tell me before I call Jake and cancel all your plans." I threatened. As I said this, the doorbell rang.

The Chinese food was here. I went to the door and paid the deliverer.

After the Chinese was dealt out and Eryk was sat down with a fork in hand, I went over to the phone.

"Before you go calling Jacob, it would be a good idea to open this." He said, holding up a Kay jeweler's box that usually held bracelets or necklaces.

"Eryk, we've discussed this! Nothing expensive unless it is a worthy occasion. Christmas is months away." I complained, and he thrust it into my hands. I handed it back, "Take it back."

"Just open it." He said, shoving it into my hands

"…fine." I said. I was such a push over. I would return it later; we needed the money more than we needed the bracelet. I decided to just peek at it and see what it looked like. I was just trying to make Eryk happy. I pinched the sides of the box and Eryk stood up. He was smiling, wider than usual.

Inside the box was the most wanted and most dreaded thing a woman can ever receive. It was an engagement ring. I dreaded this because that would mean that I'd have to get over my shyness once we were married…but I wanted it because I loved Eryk and I knew I did. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, and this fact, the fact that I now could have him, scared the living shit out of me.

I looked at Eryk, who had gotten down on one knee, and had a look in his eyes that told me he was extremely unsure of himself. To be honest, so was I.

"Kelley?" He asked, "Kelley, I love you. I promise to always love you and do what's best for you. Will you marry me?"

I was speechless even though I'd already had a few moments to mentally prepare myself. There was no way out of this. I would NOT hurt him. I loved him too much.

"Yes." I whispered, he slid the simple diamond ring with a silver band onto my left ring finger, where it would stay.

For now.

Eryk and me. Me and Eryk. Either way, we were an official couple now. The wedding drew closer with Jacob helping with the arrangements. I quit my job to study for getting my G.E.D. and constantly hanging out with Jacob whenever he wasn't at work. He seemed to always be over at our house these days.

I discovered a lot about Jacob in the month's time we had until the wedding. We were a lot alike. Loved gruesome, gory, brutal movies. The eighties slasher movies had always been too much for Eryk, but Jacob loved to make fun of them. As I finished study help book after study help book, we talked about 'Halloween', 'Freddy vs. Jason' and so many others. We discussed the making of tons of movies. Everything from Twilight to Gladiator. There wasn't a movie that I could think of that he'd never seen. He knew them all. Jacob said that he used to have so much time that he could watch all the Freddy and Jason movies in a single day.

As time went on, I found out that Jacob never talked to me at camp because he'd been a little weirded out by me. He hadn't seen a girl since the 10th grade when he and Eryk showed up at the camp.

If Eryk had not secretly claimed me, things could be very different now. I always had wondered why the boys weren't hounding on me as Eryk did, as I now knew.

I realized immediately that I was falling in love with Jacob. If Eryk hadn't taken an interest in me, it could be Jacob that I was marrying instead of Eryk! The idea was wrongly appealing to me. I began having doubts. I realized that I was just a little girl and I didn't know any better. It took one kiss from Eryk that very night to remember why I was marrying him instead of Jacob. He loved me and I loved him.

This comforting thought made me keep going with the plans, made me get a dress and the tuxedos, bridesmaid dresses and all the necessary needs for a wedding. I had the church ready and a reception place.

By the time, the doors of the church closed behind me as I walked down the aisle wearing a flowing white dress, with Eryk's dad clinging to my arm, it was too late to change plans.

The man of my dreams stood beside the man I was about to marry.

Jacob Acklier. In a tuxedo, he did not look like the Jacob I knew. The one I loved. Jacob had a reserved look on his face. As I climbed up the steps to the altar, Jacob's face looked sad. There would be no cute Kelley. Married Kelley would have to be much better than the old one.

I tore my gaze away from Jacob and looked into the chocolate brown eyes that I would be with for the rest of my life, Eryk's eyes.

Eryk's cousins stood proudly as my bridesmaids and his groomsmen.

Eryk took my hand just as we rehearsed. Except, unlike the rehearsals, this was the real thing. I was scared as hell about this. Sudden commitment wasn't really my 'thing'.

I could see Eryk's mom in the front row, crying her eyes out. I secretly wished that my Mom was here, crying for me, her only daughter, who was about to make the biggest commitment of her life.

All went well, just as planned, until our concealment vows. Right as the priest asked me if I would take Eryk as my husband, the person I'd gotten rid of 3 years ago for a reason showed up, causing the most humiliating and daunting scene.

My father, Carson Miller, showed up, gun in hand. He seemed to pay no attention to the fact that we were in God's house. He pointed a .45 handgun in Eryk's direction. I inherently stepped in front of Eryk, knowing that my father would never harm me to death. I glared at the man who abused me, who I loved for some strange reason, but right now, harming the person that I was about to marry…that was WAY out of hand.

"So, it's true. You eloped. It took you a while to get married." He walked forward the entire church was silent. Everyone was at a loss for what to do. HE held his gun steady, as he got closer.

"Kelley, let me handle this." Eryk whispered in my ear and I turned to shake my head. Instead of Eryk, I saw Jacob. His eyes were full of worry and high anxiety was written all over his face.

"No." I whispered back to Eryk, who held on to my hand from behind me, "He won't hurt me. He will hurt you. I should know." Now, a soft murmur sounded throughout the crowd. In this little town, there was no cell phone reception and it was disrespectful to use them in the church, but no one obviously cared because everyone was trying to call someone on their phones. Dad turned around and shouted," anyone that calls anyone will die right here, right now. Cell phone are to be thrown into the middle of the aisle until I leave…NOW!" he ordered and cell phones appeared to be flying as the aisle that I had walked down so sadly minutes before was littered with technology.

"Dad, just leave. How many times have you showed up at the most inconvenient moment as if you want to ruin my life?" I said, brave enough to make sure he could hear me, loud and clear. I pointed to the door. "Will you would kindly leave?"

"No. Kelley, we are going home. Come along now." He said, and I hesitated. "Come home or he dies." This threat made me immediately step forward. Eryk held tightly onto my arms.

"Just let go Eryk. Maybe it's for the best." I whispered and he let go of me.

Eryk's mom silently mouthed 'Thank you.' to me as my father drug me towards the door.

My dad grabbed my face and spun me around at the doors of the church.

"I was never here." He said, and slammed his fist into my jaw and everything was gone.

I woke up to find myself strapped to a chair in my old room. I was still in my wedding dress, and I was very cold. The dress did not exactly cover my shoulders very well. The place was a bit dusty, but still exactly as I had left it. I shifted in the chair, I was very sore, I must have been there for a while, and I winced as the rope pulled at my skin.

Rope burns covered my arms and legs. I was exhausted, as if I had not gotten any sleep in days, but I knew I must have been here for at least a few hours, if not more. I heard the sound of feet coming up the stairs and I knew that he was coming up to yell and beat me, just like the old days.

My dad stepped through the doorway. He had a tray of food and a knife. I looked at him with an alarmed expression.

"I'm only cutting you loose. No need to look at me that way." He insisted in his familiar gruff voice. He hadn't been drinking, I noticed.

He gently eased me out of the chair and onto the bed.

"I'm sorry for what I did. I should have contacted you and told you 'no' earlier. I was drinking with some friends the night before and I had those hateful feelings towards that Eryk kid. He wasn't any good for you." Dad explained, trying to not be insulting.

"I love him, Dad. I think you need to accept that you won't be able to protect me forever. You're more of a danger to me than Eryk is. Only when you're drinking. You always promised Mom and me that you'd quit, but you never did. I don't want to be here." I told him and he seemed to understand.

"I'm doing better. I have a job and I go to counseling, I work out at the gym on Thursdays and Saturdays. I've changed. Moreover, I'm sorry that I used to hit you. Every minute that I breathe, I regret it." He said, holding my hand, tears streaming down his face. "Will you at least stay for a while?"

"Okay. I feel too sick to move anyway." I said, lying back into the pillows that covered my bed.

"Yeah, the heater broke and I don't have enough money to fix it right now." He apologized, "Before you go back to sleep, eat something. I made cheesy spaghetti, your favorite." He smiled and handed me the tray. "Sleep well."

"Thanks Dad." I said, grateful for the fact that he was nice for the first time in a long time. I silently ate my spaghetti and I could hear Dad moving around downstairs. He was probably cleaning, knowing Dad, who did everything at the last minute possible.

I fell asleep almost as soon as I set the tray down on the floor.

I'm not sure how long I slept, but all I really remember is that when I woke up, my Dad was standing over me, with a big aluminum bat held over his head, ready to swing it down. Though I was extremely sick and I knew that I wouldn't be able to make it far, I bolted for the door and the aluminum bat swung towards me. I was flustered and suddenly became exasperated. Why would he do this to me? He had promised and yet again broken that promise.

My military training kicked in and I twisted around him to make a grab for the bat, twisting his arm around his back and forcing him to let it go. I swung the bat to hit him it just the right pressure point in the leg, causing him to collapse. I knew I had about 20 minutes to run and hide before he would be able to walk decently let alone run, again.

I ran to the front door to find my cell phone, which had been strapped to my shoes at the wedding. I grabbed it and dialed Eryk's home phone. I walked out of the house as fast as my legs would let me and waited for Eryk's familiar voice.

The phone just rang, and rang, and rang. I hung up and figured that he was out looking for me. I called his cell phone and the automated voice that you usually get with voicemails told me that his phone had been disconnected or was out of service range. Thinking that it was out of service range, I then called the cab company owned by a friend that I used to work with. Maybe she could come and pick me up.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Hey Michelle. I need a favor. Do you have a few minutes?" I asked, hopeful.

"Yeah, I just got off work and I'm packing up my stuff. What do you need Kelley?" She asked, not bothered or shocked at all when I asked her to come and take me to Eryk's.

"Sure, girly. Be there in 5." I was so thankful for her that I didn't even realize what a sight I was until she showed up and asked.

"Oh, it's a long story…I really don't want to talk about it." I said, "But if this helps at all, my dad caused problems and now, Eryk and I didn't even get married."

"Oh." She said, totally understanding. She knew how it was for me back at home.

"Yeah. So, I don't know how many days it's been, but I'm going back to his house to fix this." I explained as we pulled up into the driveway of Eryk's house. "Thanks Michelle. I really appreciate this."

"Do you want me to wait?" She offered, being the best girl friend that I ever had.

"Nah." I said and smiled. I slammed the car door and stepped onto the porch. The door was locked when I tried it, so I reached for the key that we usually kept under a little gnome in the garden. I unlocked the door with the dirt-covered key and stepped into a house that I didn't recognize. The house was bare, no picture, furniture, or anything. I rubbed my eyes and tried to wish away this feeling of abandonment. This could not be happening. I opened my eyes to find that the house really was empty. The pain that I felt inside was overwhelmed by the cold coming from the open front door. I turned and closed the door. I walked into the familiar rooms that were now bare and lonely. When I walked into the kitchen, I saw the phone. I realized that I wasn't actually alone.

'Jacob' was all I could manage to think.

I dialed the numbers that I now had memorized. The ringing droned on and made me feel anxious that someone or something was going to appear behind me.

"Hello?" Answered a muffled and terribly familiar voice.

"Jacob! I'm at Eryk's and there's nothing here, he 's not here and I don't know what to do." I exploded, tears finally taking their rightful place, streaming down my face.

"Umm…I think you have the wrong number."

"Jacob! It's Kelley. Please, explain to me why Eryk isn't here at our house." I said, slower and louder.

"Kelley? What the hell are you doing at Eryk's?" He asked, "He moved back in with his parents. They must have figured that you'd show up and since they didn't like your dad threatening Eryk, they forbade him from ever talking to you again." I started crying harder.

"God, their right. He is better off without me." I told him.

"Kelley, I'll be there in 5 minutes." He said and hung up his phone.

I walked into the garage to find my old tracker. The hood was up and the engine was missing. I opened the backseat and tried too find my wallet that should be somewhere back there. I found the piece of paper that had flown into the backseat, all those years ago when I was on my way to the camp. The paper said,

'Beware of the person you are unsure of and trust the one who helps you in times of desperate need'

I thought about how much this would have helped, but then I realized that it wouldn't have. At camp, I was unsure of Jacob, and Eryk had helped me in times of desperate need. Now, it was the exact opposite. Eryk was the one who I was unsure of and Jacob was helping me in an even more desperate need.

Whom was I supposed to believe in? Why did I even believe this shit? Am I just crazy and insane? Probably, I surely wouldn't doubt it. No one could doubt the fact that I was at the end of my rope and about to collapse with exhaustion and bad health.

Just then, I heard the front door open and then, slam shut. Jacob must have arrived. I smiled despite my condition. I held on to the little slip of paper and went back into the house. I saw Jacob standing in the kitchen when I walked through the garage door and I impulsively ran up to him. I hugged him, tears running down my face. He hugged me back and for a moment, I pretended that he was mine and that Eryk had never happened. It bothered me how easy this was. I pulled away from him and the difference in air warmth from his body to the un-heated kitchen was so much that my body felt a shock. I started coughing. I fell to the floor and the moment that I saw blood, I knew that I would not last much longer.

***I do not recall much of what happened next, for I was filled with sedatives and was constantly unconscious, except for a few moments of time that I still cling to today.

I remember the ambulance, because it was so loud and I heard Jacob talking to me, telling me to hold on, to keep breathing.

"Kelley, please, listen to me. Take deep breaths, in and out. Don't die out on me." Jacob pleaded, holding onto my hand. I remember thinking that it felt nice for someone to care about me again, to actually be worried and voice it aloud.

I tried to breathe like Jacob was telling me to, but the blood was trickling down my throat and making me cough. I tried to tell him that it was just a little blood and that I would be fine, but I couldn't find my voice.

When the ambulance arrived and pulled me outside, in my wedding dress on a stretcher, I blacked out.

I woke up about 2 days later, in a daze. I was having slight amnesia and I briefly forgot where I was, what had happened and who Jacob was. The pain in his face when this happened hurt me so badly that I started crying and the warmth of the salty tears on my face made me remember that Eryk was gone, that I was sick and that Jacob was the hero of the day.

"I'm so sorry." I said to him, trying to get up to console him, but he pushed me gently back into the pillows of the hospital bed and I knew that it was all for the best. He obviously did not want me to hurt myself more and I didn't want to hurt him anymore than I already had.

"Don't make this worse than it already is." He said, getting up to leave.

"If you don't mind me asking, but since I don't remember much of anything, are we engaged or something?" I asked, not caring whether or not he wanted to answer. I did not think it'd be a 'no' or what he said; because of the way, he looked at the way and me my body unintentionally wanted to comfort him and the feeling that I got when I realized that the dreams I kept having were about him and there was another boy with brown hair and really pretty brown eyes who I kept calling 'Eryk' and I liked him a lot, but every time I had one of the dreams with him, I always wanted to cry for some strange reason. These feelings confused me and that's why I was both happy and hurt by Jacob's answer to my question.

"I wish we were, but no, we aren't. You almost married my best friend, Eryk Marsh. You probably don't remember this though." He explained, "Your dad showed up at the wedding and took you away right before your vows were read and repeated. That scared us all and we figured that you would get hurt, so we sent the cops after you as soon as we could.

"But they couldn't find you. Therefore, we all gave up and started to go back to our original lives. You were gone of about a week and a half. Then, you turned up out of nowhere and you had a bad case of pneumonia and started coughing so hard that your throat bled, partly from lack of food and water but the temperature did that too. You were in your wedding dress, so that means that you weren't exactly warm. And now, you're here."

"What happened to Eryk?" I asked, sad that I wasn't engaged to this gorgeous, kind man that seemed to care about me to some extent.

"His parents were so freaked by the fact that he was almost shot, that they took him away and forbade him to ever see or contact you again. Otherwise, they would disown him." He explained, still standing in the doorway.

"Did I love him?" I inquired; tempted to ask him why I did not seem to love this 'Eryk' person as much as I loved him.

"I don't know. He loved you a lot though. You were like his prize." Jacob spat, annoyed. "I always hated how you were like his pet. He didn't have any respect for you."

"Then why didn't I marry you? You respect me." I requested an answer on this question.

"I thought about that often, and I have a theory. I think that you cared about Eryk enough to not want to hurt him as did I. I didn't want to take you, no matter how much I loved you because you were my best friend's fiancée and as much I would have if you hadn't have been Eryk's, I couldn't." Jacob explained, turning to go.

"I dreamt about something last night." I called and Jacob turned around again and came back into the room, sitting in the chair next to my bed.

"What did you dream about?" He asked, anxious to know.

"I had a dream about you. We were in a cabin somewhere, and it was as if we were newly weds or something. It felt right though. It felt like that was where I was supposed to be. It was as if it was a memory. And that's why I'm so confused because my body loves you, but my mind doesn't understand.

"And there's this overwhelming feeling I keep getting every time I wake up and see you or have a dream about you. It's like walking into Hollister department store for the first time. The cologne is so strong that you can't think straight. You get used to it after a while, but then you'll leave and come back and it'll be the same reaction. It's like I'm being choked and I'm not allowed to go on…"I clarified, and I saw that he was looking at his feet.

"We've never been to a cabin together, so it wasn't real, but for you to be having those dreams, is wrong. You were engaged to Eryk. Even though you aren't anymore-your ring is gone-if we ever got serious, I'd always feel penitent about it." Jacob alleged, "But I can not deny that I fell in love with you when we were together and Eryk was working. It would be a lie to even pretend that. A lie that would bring a lifetime full of regret and sins."

"Jacob, even though I was engaged before, I can't deny that before this happened, I was having cold feet about marrying Eryk. And the more you say that I almost married Eryk, the more I remember that when I was going down the aisle with his Dad, I was watching you, as the best man and I was scared as hell about getting married and I didn't want to ever finish walking down that aisle, because I knew that once I made it to that altar, I would never be able to laugh and flirt with you anymore. I wouldn't be able to feel the way I did." I started whimpering and I tried to stop the tears, but Jacob caught them too fast. I looked into his eyes and saw the concern that I'd always wanted someone to have for me. Not the concern actually, but the fact that he loved me and that was what I'd never actually seen in Eryk's eyes.

"I remember now." I apprehended in a whisper. "I remember it all. We all met at military camp, you never talked to me, Eryk 'claimed' me that was why the other boys never went running in the morning anymore, and why none of them ever flirted like most boys their age did. I worked at a pizza parlor and I own half that house that's probably sold by now…and I coughed up a bunch of blood after I ran in the house and hugged you…" I went on and on. I was so happy that I had remembered that I didn't even feel the pain hit. There was no pain at all. I was with Jacob, the man that cared about me more than Eryk ever had. And I was in love with him.

And just like that, Eryk was out of the picture.

Chapter 4

I healed faster than the doctors had expected, but I needed to stay under constant supervision just incase I started coughing up blood again. I went to Jacob's house and stayed there. His house was small, but it was just the kind of house that made me feel like I was at home. It was all neutral, earthy colors and had only one story. It was perfect. I loved to sit in the living room and look out on with pond that was practically in our back yard.

The air got colder, and it started to snow. I insisted that I got a job, but Jacob refused to let me. Therefore, I used my abilities from home. I babysat our neighbor's kids for 6 hours almost every Saturday. That made me about $150 a week.

I still was not fully healed, so I persuaded Jacob to let me get an 'at home' job. I saved up my babysitting money and got myself a laptop. I called many different numbers from the 'classified' and I finally found a job as an architectural engineer that I could be if I took some internet classes and showed up at the office every 4 months.

I accepted that one because it was the last one that I had as an option and because it sounded like the most entertaining one of the horde that I would collected from newspapers.

As for Jacob, he was a store manager for Wal-Mart. It was a great job and he never got bored. He made a decent amount of money. Since I had been sick and I did not have insurance, he'd paid for all the bills and I was determined to pay him back if it was the last thing I did.

Now, taking the fact that we were living together, everyone assumed that we were married, but our neighbors were too polite to ask. However, Jacob and I were more like roommates. Except more like high school kids that have a crush on each other and they admitted it and now are at a loss for what to do…that is the perfect analogy for the way it was with Jacob.

The main difference was that every night, I knew that Jacob was in the room just next to mine. The way I felt about Jacob was very different from what I'd felt for Eryk. I was constantly comparing everything to Eryk's relationship with me.

The way Jacob looked at me was a way someone who just won the Nobel Prize and wasn't expecting to would look at the medal. However, I was the lucky winner. I had the most amazing man in the world and if I'd get over the fear of Eryk coming back and finding me with Jacob, I would be able to have him as mine and I'd be the happiest person alive.

Not that I wasn't already happy. It was just that I had cravings. Late at night, I was always tempted to crawl into bed with him and sleep with his arms around me. It wasn't sex that I wanted, though that was a worthy prospect that I wasn't going to do with anyone until I'd married to them, but the need to fall asleep in his arms, to wake up as the sun rose up and kiss him just because I could.

I just wanted to love him as if no body had ever loved him. I wanted to be the one that he would remember, long after I was dead or just gone, and he'd remember me as the one who he loved more than anyone else in the world at one time.

The problem with this scenario was that I had to BE whom he wanted and I wasn't so sure that I was…

I heard the garage door open and I got up from my place on the day bed. Jacob was home! I opened the oven to see how the macaroni and cheese was doing. I'd cooked it for us for tonight. I just felt like tonight would be a good night. Perhaps it was the weather. It was starting to get warmer and the sun was shining beautifully tonight.

The laundry room door shut as I set the hot casserole dish on the stovetop.

"Kelley? What in the world are you doing?" Interrogated Jacob as he took his windbreaker off and slung it over the chair by my desk.

"Making you dinner. What does it look like?" I teased him sarcastically.

"That's obvious, but why?" he asked, coming up behind me and rubbing my shoulders.

"Is there something wrong with cooking you dinner?" I demanded, stirring the cheese into the noodles, while leaning against him the slightest bit.

"Yes. You've never done it before and it makes me wonder what's wrong." He said, mocking me.

"I wanted macaroni and cheese okay?" I admitted, pushing away from him and taking out the silver ware and plates.

"Ha! I knew it!" He said in a joking tone. He sat down as I filled his plate with the steaming food and set it in front of him.

"Good day at work? You're in a better mood than usual today." I hinted.

"Yeah. I went shopping." He said in a more serious tone.

"Shopping? That doesn't sound like you." I inquired, curiosity filling me as he poking his fork into his plate. He wasn't looking at me.

"You know, this stuff is amazing. Is it your grandma's recipe?" he asked, avoiding my implication.

"Yeah it is. Why'd you go shopping?" I insisted on an answer.

"Maybe you don't need to know." He suggested.

"Then why did you tell me?"

"You wanted to know why I was in a good mood so I told you truthfully. I wasn't going to lie to you." He insisted, finally looking at me. He had a determination was on his face, but his eyes deceived him. He was hiding something important.

"What is up with you?" I asked, "I feel like a kid that doesn't understand the adult's joke."

"It's not a joke, and if you really must know. Go and look in my windbreaker pocket." I hated it when he used that guilt trip on me, but he was right. If he wanted to avoid telling me, I would let him. I ate my food and thought about what he could have bought that would have made this day so happy…a box of chocolate? He did love his chocolate…

"Are you finished?" He asked, gesturing towards my empty plate in front of me.

"Yeah. I'll get that." I said, making a grab for his plate.

"The cook never cleans." He declared, "My mother brought me up to learn that the women cook so that the men can clean. Now give me your plate."

"No." I said, "I was brought up as the one that always did the cleaning."

"Then you should take a break." He took a step towards me and he was so close that I could feel his warmth against my chest and the smell of him overwhelmed me and I almost gave in to him cleaning.

"Never." I persisted, holding the plate away form him. He reaches towards it and missed, slipping the slightest bit. Our faces connected as if this was meant to be and our lips touched. The feeling that I got in my stomach as I kissed his lips was devastating. This kiss was all I had ever wanted and the best part was that he did not push me away. He kissed me back, full on the lips and I could feel him smile a bit as his hands found their way to the back of my neck to hold me securely there.

I had to briefly stop to breathe, but I knew neither of us was anywhere near finished. The same sensation that I had gotten before came as our lips collided together in harmonization. I enclosed my arms around him, wanting him closer. I sat back onto the table, but I was too low for him. After all, he was about 6'2". He picked me up as easily as he would pick up a pillow and set me onto the kitchen counter. The plates set, completely forgotten, on the table, one on top of the other.

It almost seemed to signify the bonding Jacob and I were being subjected to. We were being connected in a way that most women feel can tell you almost anything about a relationship.

This was our first real kiss, and as silly as this may sound, the whole plate phenomenon made this moment even more special to me. Jacob was pressing me closer and closer to him, but at the same time, he was pushing me back towards the cabinets. My head clashed with the cabinet. He broke our lips apart.

"Sorry. I got a little into it-" I interjected his apology by placing my hands that had been behind his back on his face and kissed him again.

I felt like I could kiss him forever.

Hours later, we were on the couch, watching television. Nothing was on, so we were watching Sponge Bob Square pants. Sponge Bob was tanning himself with Patrick's rock tanning bed and Patrick left in there for hours. Sponge bob was fried.

I only paid a little attention to the television after that because Jacob was keeping me busy. When the show changed, Jacob sat up to turn the TV off. The room went dark and Jacob continued with kissing me. Not that I minded, he was warm and cozy to lay on. He sat up and broke our kisses. He held me in his arms. I'd never really noticed how muscular he was until now. I cuddled into his chest as he fondled my hair and my face.

"I'm tired. I'd better go to bed." I suggested lazily. I didn't want to move. Nevertheless, I was going to have to eventually.

"I don't want to be parted from you." he said and butterflies filled my stomach.

"It's not as if I'm going to be gone forever. I'll just be in the next room over. If you get too lonely, I'll let you come and cuddle with me." I implied, secretly hoping he'd take the offer.

"I'm going to be lonely the second we part." He said, standing up with me still in his arms. "I feel like such a little kid, but can I crawl into your bed?"

"Mine's the smaller one though." I conceited.

"Then we have an 'appointment' in my room in say…5 minutes?" He proposed.

"Yep." I said and he set me down. With a hug and a kiss, he was gone. I quickly dressed in my best pair of pajamas and braved the dark hallway, manipulating the wall to find the doorknob the led to Jacob's room.

"Jacob? Can I come in?" I asked, feeling the need to be quiet for some unknown reason.

"Please do." He whispered back, closer to the door than expected. His room was pitch black in darkness, so as I stumbled toward where the bed should be, I found Jacob.

"Well hi." he said, "Having some trouble there?"

"How can you see? I can't see a thing!" I exclaimed, taking his hand so as not to get lost.

"I just know where everything is." He stated, leading me forward to the bed as I would assume.

"That's obvious." I whispered. I heard the springs of his bed creak and I assumed that he had gotten onto the bed, but I found that he was just sitting on the edge, perched like a canary. I had one leg on the bed and one on the tiptoe on the floor.

"Heh, heh. Having some trouble?" He whispered in my ear, pulling me up onto the bed. He rolled over and I was under him. There we were, cheek to cheek. I was warm, but I couldn't seem to make him close enough to where I was as warm as I wanted to be.

I sighed and breathed in his boy- smell. He wasn't wearing a shirt, I realized after a few moments of embracement. His shoulder blades were rough, yet smooth. He skin felt soft and silky smooth. I hugged him tighter.

"I love you." my voice whispered, slicing the silence like a knife going through butter.

"I truly, truly love you, more than anything." He answered, kissing my neck and burying his head into my shoulder.

We lay there is silence for a few more moments.

"My back's getting cold. Would you mind getting under the comforter?" He politely asked.

"If you'll move long enough for me to then, yes." I said and he released me. I rolled under the covers and snuggled into his chest. He was so warm and I felt safe in his arms. "Is your back warm now?"

"Yes. Thanks for staying with me tonight." He whispered in a soft tone.

"It's my pleasure." I answered. I felt his lips brush into my hair. I happily sighed. I fell asleep in his arms that night. Nothing recordable happened, but I do know that when I woke up to find myself still in his arms I was for sure the happiest person on the face of the earth.

I looked at the clock on the wall when I woke up. It was six in the morning and the sun was just then starting to peek over the edge of the world. I was still lying in Jacob's bed. My hands were on his arms and his arms were limp around me. He was still asleep. He was so handsome, even when being dead to the world, his hair was askew and his sleeping face was soft and peaceful. There was no fear or concern or any emotion on his face.

Seeing him so serene brought on every blissful emotion that I had ever felt and even the feelings that I had never had before.

I was enticed to reach out and stroke his face for it was so inhumanly beautiful to me. I could not hold back my temptation. I touched his face gently and he stirred slightly, his eyes opening enough to see that I was there.

"Good morning." I murmured pushing his eyelids back together, "Go back to sleep. I didn't mean to wake you."

"I was half awake anyway." he retorted with a feeble smile. I kissed his forehead and he tightened my confinement and pulled me closer. "How are you on this lovely early morning?"

"Peaceful." I whispered to his shoulder.

"Is that a good thing?" He asked, pulling me up to be nose to nose with him. He kissed me softly and I laughed an insignificant laugh. "What?"

"I don't know. I just feel happy. Much happier than I've ever been."

"I'm glad."

That one night was all it took for us to actually be what I had always dreamt about. I was forever smiling and everything got better. Nevertheless, just when I was sure that this incident could not get any better, it did.

It started when Jacob finally showed me what he had been shopping for.

"Kelley?" Jacob said on one of our late night encounters.

"Yes?" I replied, looking him in the eye. His green eyes shimmered in the TV's light.

"Do you remember when I went shopping and I never showed you what I got?" He inquired.

"Yep. Are you finally going to satisfy my curiosity?" I teased, giving him a fake glare.

"Yes, but you'll have to stand up."

"O-okay." I stood up and was instantly cold and slightly afraid. Jacob dug in his pockets for a moment.

"Hold on." He said and disappeared. He reappeared seconds later with a black velvet box. He got down on one knee and looked up into my eyes.

'There's no way this can be happening.' I thought as he opened the box and held it up to me.

"Kelley, will you marry me?" He asked simply. The last time I had been asked this exact same question, I had been with Eryk, but in love with Jacob. Now, I was in love with Jacob and with Jacob, so this was my chance. My chance to make him mine.

However, did I deserve him? Have I earned his love? Nevertheless, he was the one doing the asking, so he must be serious.

"I will." I answered as he hugged me, he came up to me chest, after all, he was on his knees, and he held me there. After a few minutes of silence, he found my hand and slid the simple silver ring with one diamond in the middle onto my ring finger, and just like that, I was soon to be a married woman. I hope that our wedding would not be interrupted like the last time.

Within 2 weeks, Jacob's mother, Juli had thrown together a small, but satisfactory wedding. Jacob had arranged the honeymoon with his mom and was refusing to tell me where we were going.

"Come on Jacob! Just tell me." I pleaded with him, "I want to know! How will I know what sort of clothes to pack?"

"Mom's already got that under control."

"So she's going through my clothes? That makes me self conscious because half of my clothes are your old clothes." I complained.

"Nope. She's getting some new ones. We'll only be gone for a week. Don't give me that look. This was my mom's idea." I'd given him my 'I WILL find out' look.

"I will find out." I informed him, "and you know that I hate it when your mom spends money on me. It makes me feel bad."

"Like I said, it was her idea." Jacob kissed me to keep me quiet, but I wasn't going to play that game. I pulled away from him, sitting up. "Kelley? What's wrong?" He asked, sitting up with me.

"I'll make you a deal." I said, "Until you tell me where we are going, I won't hug you or kiss you unless it's at the altar." I added tenaciously.

"Hey, that's not fair! You are so stubborn! That's mean and petty and you know it!" he complained, trying to give me a hug.

I stayed completely still and did not move. He should crack soon enough. I hated surprises and he knew it.

"Come on, this is cruel. I'd rather be tortured with a sharp stick than have you do this to me." He whined, but I could tell that he was joking. He was trying to wiggle his way out of the situation that he didn't want to be in.

"You know I don't like surprises because they make me uncomfortable. Come on, Jake. Tell me." I beseeched, trying a different approach.

"No no-no-no-no-no! I will not give in. Just wait Kelley. It'll be more special if it's a surprise. I want it to be really special and you can not know yet." Jacob's voice was low and moaning. The pitiful look he had in his eyes made me give in.

"Alright. If I have to wait to make you happy, I'll wait." I permitted grudgingly, settling into his chest again.

I walked down the aisle with one of Jacob's groomsmen this time, partly because we couldn't find my dad to take me down the carpet, but also because Jacob's dad had passed away a few years back.

It was a simple, laid-back kind of wedding and it was not hard to think that almost a year ago, I was in a white dress, looking at the best man instead of the groom, but this time, I was staring at the groom, who had a look of sheer astonishment upon his face.

He smiled the biggest smile I'd ever seen on his face as he took my hand and pushed the veil out of my face. We recited our vows. Rings were put on each other's fingers. Everything was pleasant with no bad incidents. I almost tripped down the stairs as Jacob led me outside to meet the beautiful sunshine and breeze, but thankfully, Jacob caught me before I'd hit the floor. We dealt with all the pictures, which neither of us wanted, and then, we went home with Judi.

After we'd showered and changed, we had a small reception party at Judi's house. Her place was covered with flowers and smelled wonderful. There were green lights strung around the rooms and Jacob's (now our) family all danced with us to our song, 'Memories of us' by Keith Urban. We ate, sang, and danced until very late that night.

"That was fun." I said as Jacob drove us home. The silence made me self-conscious, so I tried to keep talking. "Your mom's a fantastic decorator. She should make a business of it. She's a real estate agent right?"

"Yeah, she is." Was all that Jacob said.

"Is something wrong?" I requested, annoyed that he would be in a bad mood, today of all days.

"No." He insisted, plainly lying. We pulled into our garage and we both went quiet. We got inside and our bags were waiting for us in the laundry room. Jacob picked up the bags and immediately went back to the car.

"Aren't we staying here?" I assumed we would be…

"No. we've got to get to the airport before we miss our flight" His voice was nervous and slightly sad. We got back into the car and strapped ourselves in.

"Something's obviously bothering you Jacob. What is it?"

"Nothing you need to worry about." He reasoned, leaning over towards me and kissing my temple. "You're tired. Just relax and take a cat nap."

"Okay." I countered, leaning back into the vinyl seats as Jacob pulled out of the garage again.

My recollection of the next few hours, the plane rides and car rides, is very imprecise. I hardly remember the forest roads that we took. I do not remember anything at all except that we were somewhere in Colorado.

I woke up to find myself in a forest that I did not recognize. Jacob lay, passed out in the driver's seat, the seat pushed all the way back. He did not look very comfortable. I looked out of the windshield and saw a little cabin, much like the one that I saw in my dreams, all those months ago, when I couldn't remember Eryk or Jacob or anything about after I'd left home for that subject. I immediately understood why he thought this would be so special because this reminded me of the day that he'd first told me that he loved me.

The day that I confessed that I loved him even when I was engaged to Eryk, and that it was him I was looking at when I went down the aisle instead of my groom(at the time).

Tears started to fall down my cheeks as I smiled at the thoughts that he'd had when deciding the perfect place for our honeymoon. It was perfect, the most special and amazing place he could have picked…

I heard him stirring next to me and I looked down to see him looking at me, tears running down my face.

"What's wrong? Do you not like it?" He asked, apprehensively wiping tears away from my face.

"It's miraculous. The best place you could have chosen." I whispered, taking his hand, holding it in both my hands. I couldn't even cover it completely with both my hands; he was so much bigger than I was…

"Then why are you crying?" he asked, laughing as I grinned up at him.

"It was so shocking, how much thought you put into this…it's exactly like the one that I dreamt about in the hospital." I informed him and he smirked.

"I hoped it would be. Do you want to go in?"

"Yes." I retorted, stepping out into the cool, Colorado air. My jeans were waterlogged on the 20-foot path up to the cabin. The dew was chilly, but I didn't mind, I was holding Jacob's hand as we walked up to the place we would spend in for the next week.

Inside, the couch was big and the shelves were filled with tons of DVDs. The kitchen was small, but well stocked. Jacob brought our bags into the bedroom that we were to stay in.

It was weird for me, not having to hold back on my morals, not having to worry about anything. I was free…we were free. There were no longer boundaries. There were no lines to cross; there was nothing wrong with wanting every part of Jacob, the way that I wanted him.

Jacob had started to unpack his belongings into one of the dressers and put his toiletries bag in the bathroom, along with mine. I unloaded all of my lingerie and jeans with the flannel button-downs that Juli had picked out for me. I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth, brush my hair and change, cleaning up after the long expedition to get here.

Jacob was lying on the bed, eyes closed, when I came out of the bathroom. Since he'd done all of the driving, I decided to leave him to sleep until he woke up. I went into the kitchen and started to pick through the contents that filled the cabinets. There wasn't much, so I improvised. I found so beef in the refrigerator various brands of beef broth. I chopped the meat, spiced it up, and managed to find some good carrots, celery and heaps of potatoes. I mixed all these ingredients into a pot that I found in the bottom cabinets. After I finished putting the whole lot into the pot and got it simmering, I cleaned up. When I was satisfied with the way the kitchen looked, I looked in on Jacob. He was still sound asleep, snoring the most muted snore that I'd ever heard.

I reported to my beef stew and found that it would need to simmer for about 20 minutes more before it would be all set to be dished up. I returned back to Jacob, hoping I'd be able to wake him easily and not get him upset with me.

"Jacob." I whispered, "Wake up or you'll never get to sleep tonight…and you'll miss lunch. I cooked a beautiful beef stew, just for you." I added. He didn't respond. I thought he was trying to pull my leg, but when he still didn't make any movement for a few moments more, I pulled away from him and tried a different scheme.

"Wake up!" I yelled and his eyes opened wide. He was so startled that he fell off the bed.

"Damn! You scared the living shit out of me! It doesn't take much to wake me up!" He informed me in a drowsy voice.

"Apparently, it does. I've been talking to you for about the last 5 minutes." I notified him, "Lunch is almost ready. I hope you're hungry."

"I am, but not for food." He teased, kissing me roughly.

"The stew's going to boil over if we go too far now." I protested, pushing unwillingly against his chest. He stole another kiss and led me out of the room. He sniffed the air.

"That smells incredible! This is stew. Does is have potatoes?" He demanded, looking into the pot earnestly. "Yes! It does! Lots of potatoes!"

"I know. I know. Many potatoes. Move so I can dish you up some." I insisted, shoving him away from the pot. I poured plenty of potatoes and broth into his bowl, handing it to him. He leaned against the counter and ate while I sat down at the table. We looked at each other, uncertain of what to say. When we had both finished, began washing out the dishes, but he stopped me, taking the dishes out of my hands and leading me away.

"They need to be cleaned-" I argued, but was unexpectedly stopped mid sentence but Jacob's kisses. He pushed me into our room.

The rest of the day passed quickly. I don't want to tell you all about what happened after Jacob pushed me into our room, partly because that is very personal information and for the sake of everyone's sanity. I would hate to damage anyone's youthful innocence by telling every little detail that I can recollect.

That night, we watched the movie 'Valkyrie' with Tom Cruise. He isn't as hot as everyone seems to think he is…He's actually hideous in comparison to Jacob. He was so much better, and he didn't have body guards that protected him from alien invasions. Tom Cruise has some serious mental problems…senseless old man.

After an hour of watching people kill each other in Germany, turned to Jacob who seemed to have the same ideas. He pressed the 'pause' button on the remote and turned the tube off. He kissed me flat out on the lips and didn't stop there. He kissed my shoulders, my arms and twisted his way into my arms and turned to face me. Kissing along my neck, I stole a kiss from him and I wouldn't let him leave. He undoubtedly had other ideas, but I just wanted to take it easy, for now.

The next day, Jacob chose to show me how to hunt rabbits. We took his shotguns out and I made some weak attempts to shoot a rabbit, but I was no sniper. The rabbits tended to run too fast for me to shoot them. We had heaps of fun running around in the nearby creeks and spending bitter, dark nights, cuddling on the couch by the fire, whispering to each other. I was as happy as anyone could be with the person that they loved more than anything in the entire world. I was not sad anymore, I did not miss Eryk, and the wound that he had left me with was no longer there. I smiled at the thought of never having to put up with him ever again.

I still cared about him, but Jacob was the one and only man who could ever make me happy…the only one who I would ever want to spend the rest of my life with.

Time passed quickly and before we knew it, we were hosting Christmas at our house. However, before that, we opened the presents we had gotten for each other.

I got Jacob a new watch as a joke. He always complained about barely making it to places on time. I also got him a new television. That gift was more for 'us' as opposed to him, but he loved it. There were also many little knick-knacks that I had found to put around the house.

Jacob had gotten me a few computer games and some of the movies that we both liked. It was a small Christmas, but it was the biggest one that I could remember…the one before that, we had spent at Judi's house and that was mainly dinner and a Christmas movie.

All of our company came and went, nothing eventful happened during the celebration, so once again, we primarily ate and talked that night away.

Of all the things that happened that night, the most surprising was when I officially met Jacob's little brother, Jack, who was going to get married in a few weeks. I also met his fiancée, and she was the most beautiful girl in the world. She was extremely modest too. Jack kissed her cheek once when we were talking and she went the brightest shade of pink and looked, worried around at us.

Jacob, of course, made a stupid joke. He said, "Hey Jack, get a room."

"You two should get a room." Jack said, looking proud of his come back.

"We have one." Jacob said in a mater-of-fact voice. The entire room, including Jack and Diane (that was her name) laughed and went about what they had been doing before.

Other than this one instance, there were not other recordable events of the night, partly because it was just like every other normal family's Christmas gathering.

Another year passed, and then another one. The years started to feel like days, the days like minutes…

Jacob and I had discussed having a child, but every time one didn't come, I grew more and more frustrated. I signed up for a doctor's appointment and on that day, Jacob was going to come home early, to hear the news.

I was not happy as I drove to the doctor's office. I had a feeling that they were going to tell me that I could never have kids. My monthly menstruation had stopped and none of the pregnancy tests had come up positive…

I left the doctor's office an hour later with the biggest smile that was ever seen on anyone on my face. What the doctor had to say was the best news that I had ever heard in my life but I knew that Jacob's smile would be bigger. A baby…that was all we'd ever been with out, of course, a million dollars isn't always bad…but that wasn't something was wanted that we knew we could have.

That we now were having. I pulled into the garage, barely noticing the lustrous black car that should have alarmed me, but I was too happy to let anything bother me. Well, almost anything.

I made loads of noise when I got into the house, hoping Jacob would come in and I tried to look sad, but my acting skills weren't very good.

I heard him in the foyer, talking. He must have been on the phone. Wait, there was a car outside. Someone's here, maybe I should save the news…

I peeked around the corner to see a painfully memorable face.

Eryk.

It wasn't so much that it was Eryk, it was what was on his finger, and what he pointed at Jacob. The hand gun was held steady; Eryk was going to kill Jacob. But why?

I stepped into the foyer, mechanically stepped in front of Jacob.

"Kelley." Eryk said, his voice was huskier than it had been before, I noticed. "You don't have to pretend for this anymore. You can leave. No more waiting. I got here as soon as the army let me go." He added, pointing the gun higher, to Jacob's face.

"Eryk, put the gun down, and leave. I'm begging you. Don't do this. I care about you both. If you're going to kill Jacob, you're going to have to kill me as well." I said, trying to be rough and serious, but what I really wanted to do was be an animal. Rip his throat out, tear up his limbs. How DARE he even THINK that I was still his!

My voice sounded more pleading than I would have liked it to be.

"But Kelley-" Eryk started.

"No. Eryk, we were over the moment I showed up at your house and no one was there. When I found out that you didn't even look for me, I realized that we were never really meant to be. Girls look at you enough as it is. Why not find someone who is better for you? Eryk, you and I both know that!" I explained, begging him mentally for him to go away.

"But Kelley, we had a lot…all that time we spent together…you're going to throw it all away?" Eryk asked, a sparkle emerged from his eyes. I knew he was lying.

"You're not going to put the guilt trip on me and Jacob and I have an understanding. He knows that I have put all of that behind me. It's time for you to move on." I spoke without thinking, and my voice was very quiet, but by his expression, I knew that he had heard.

I took a step closer to Jacob; I could feel his hand on my shoulder.

"So I suppose that you choose to die with him? Marry him? Have kids with him? Spend the rest of your life with this loser?" Eryk asked in a skeptical voice.

I wanted to be something that would scare the living hell out of him, something that he was afraid of. Something that he would run away from.

"Eryk put the gun down." I ordered, and he lowered the gun, pulling his finger off the trigger. "First of all, I already married Jacob. Second of all, I'm pregnant." Jacob broke the silence that Eryk gave me with a surprised, "You are?" I glanced up at him and nodded. "That's great!"

Eryk raised his gun again and this time, he was pointing at me, at him stomach.

"Eryk, killing the baby isn't going to help anything. It's going to kill me as well." I told him and he glared, pointing the gun at the floor again.

"But this won't." he said, pointing the gun at Jacob and pulling back the trigger. The ear-splitting sound slowed me reaction time and Jacob hit the floor with a dull thud and Eryk looked as if he was going to throw up. For some reason, I recalled that his one and only fear was blood. It made him nauseous. I looked at Jacob; his face was covered in blood.

I looked at his forehead and saw a bullet-hole, front and center, leaking out blood.

His eyes had no life in them, and I felt tears running down my face. I wanted to die right here. I looked at Eryk. He looked disgusted.

"Kill me. Please. I'm begging you Eryk. You can tell the police that I begged for it. Please kill me. I can't live without Jacob. I love him, and I can't make it through an entire pregnancy all by myself." I begged, crying and occasionally having to take breaths to keep myself going. My mind was numb. Jacob was just asleep, as I had convinced myself. I'd soon be asleep beside him, like every night.

"I refuse to kill you Kelley. I love you." He reached for me and pulled me to my feet. "I can help you." He added.

"No, you can't. 'Get over it.' That's all you ever said when I was sad. I hate you." I whispered, taking a step away from him.

"Bitch. You haven't changed at all. May I remind you that we are still engaged?" "Nope. The ring's gone. Papers are all burned. I'm a good person. I wouldn't cheat on you. Even if I hated you." I sighed and then suddenly felt very angry.

"Kelley, you need help." Eryk said, taking a step forward.

"NO!" I screamed, punching him in the face. His face held a shocked expression. "You just killed the love of my life. Get your sorry little ass out of my house before I call 911 and get you arrested." I ordered, reaching for my cell phone that was still in my purse.

I looked up and Eryk was gone. Gun and all. I dialed the one number I would ever even want to dial at a time like this.

The tenor voice that answered brought a flood of relief to my stressed mind. "Hello?"

"Brian! You have to help me." I whispered, unable to speak any louder.

Part 2

Chapter 1

Jacob's funeral passed in a blur. I can't remember, even now, years later, what happened. I do remember Brian arriving at our house and finding me with Jacob. I remember looking up at Brian, Jacob's head on my lap, tears rolling down my pale cheeks. I cried more that day than I ever had in my entire life put together.

After all, I'd just lost the love of my life, my beloved Jacob…

The baby was a boy as I found out a few months later. He would be born on August 17th, which was ironically, Jacob's birthday. Or was anyway. I took this as a sign from the God that I hardly ever thought about and hadn't believed in in many, many years.

Isaac Jacob Acklier. That was going to be his name. It didn't flow very well, but I liked it. It fit with the kind of boy I wanted to have. It made me sad to think that the child would have to grow up without a father, yet as I thought about it, Jacob had grown up that way and he turned out to be one of the most amazing men in the entire world.

Brian Tusselman was now my hero. I had to sell my house and move in with Brian because I couldn't pay the bills. Without Jacob's income, the house slowly ran down and I eventually got the power turned off and the hot water was off too. When Brian found out that was how I was living, he was so furious that he himself made it his own obligation to take over my funds and he put me under his insurance plan. I still don't know what Brian did for a living, but whatever it was, he rarely left my side to go to work and he just appeared with checks on the table.

So, the more I spent time with Brian, the more I realized that I loved him. Not so much in a romantic way, more like in a family like way. And when he mentioned me moving in (more like insisted) I couldn't just say no.

Brian helped me and the baby a lot. After all that had happened to me, I was thankful to have someone to lean on.

"Brian!" I screamed, breathing heavy. Something wet was on the kitchen floor. Brian ran in from his office, hanging up on whoever he was talking to on his phone. "My water broke" I added.

"That's awesome! Oh, we need to get you to the hospital!" Brian declared, grabbing his shoes.

"Naw, I thought I was going to have labor right here!" I said sarcastically. He gave me a bemused face and said back in a teasing voice, "Well if you're having labor here, do you want blankets?" As he said this, he went to find his keys, acting like he was going to the blanket closet. He came back moments later with the keys and we walked out to the car. He handed me a towel and I sat on it, letting the 'water' drip onto that instead of dripping onto the car seat. Who knows what that stuff smells like after a few days?

By the time Brian pulled into the hospital parking lot, I was screaming in agony.

Chapter 2

Jacob's baby was a beautiful boy. I named him after my lost love. His full name was to be Jacob Andrew Acklier. I wanted the boy to remember his father ever time he wrote down his name, just as I would; only I remember Jacob with every fiber of my being. My entire life had once revolved around my beloved Jacob.

And now that he was gone…my life felt as if it would never be whole again. But I put myself together, piece by piece, with Brian helping along the way, just so I could take care of Jacob's child, and mine as well.

Five happy years passed and I was 29. Jake Jr. was starting kindergarten on this dreadful day that started out happy, but ended without a single happy thought.

I trotted down the carpeted stairs of Brian and I's house. We were married now, and I loved him, not the way I loved Jacob, but the love I felt for Brian made sense to me. It was involuntary, as mine and Jacob's had been, but was less lustful. I didn't feel the desire to do as much as I had done with Jacob with Brian.

I slipped on my heels and went over the paperwork that would need to be filed immediately when I got to the Real Estate Office. Jake came down the stairs, half naked, and looked at me as if he was frustrated.

"Mommy, this shirt doesn't like me. It won't go over my head." He insisted handing the plaid shirt I'd laid out the night before to me. I giggled at my impatient son and gently lifted him to sit on the edge of the counter.

"I'll make it like you." I answered and unbuttoned the top of the shirt, pulling it down over my son's head. "Better?"

"Yes. I guess it likes you." He smiled at me, Jacob's smile. My heart squeezed and tears welled up in the corners of my eyes.

I hugged him close to me.

"MOMMA! What are you doing?" Jake asked, struggling to escape my hug.

I lifted him off the counter and said, "Find your shoes and backpack and we'll be ready to go off to school."

"Okay." He said, running off like Superman about to save Lois Lane. I smiled and saw Brian walk down the stairs.

"Good morning…up already?" Brian asked, and patted Jake on the head as he passed by.

"Yes, first day of school is always exciting." I answered, "Coffee?"

"No, not today." Brian came over to me. "You had another nightmare last night, didn't you?" I shuddered, and he rubbed my arm for a moment.

"It doesn't really matter, I'll get used to them, or they'll go away." I replied.

"There's no way you can get used to that. I felt you crying in your sleep, Kelley, maybe you need to see someone about this, and these dreams aren't good for your health." Brian said.

"I'm not sick in the head, they're just dreams, I'm sorry that I have no control over them, I wish that Jake didn't look so much like Jacob, I wish I could make the nightmare go away, but you know what? I can't so we'll all just have to get used to it!" I spat out. I hated shrinks and Brian knew it.

"Kelley, I don't want you to get upset with me. I don't want to have an argument. You know how much I worry about you and about Jake. But these nightmares you're having are keeping me awake and they're causing you sleep loss as well." Brian hugged me, trying to guilt me into agreeing. That was the one big downfall to our relationship. He thought that by trying to guilt trip I into being nice was basically the same as talking it out.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore Brian. I have to get Jake to school and get to work. I love you, and have a nice day." I pulled out of his embrace and grabbed the keys. "Jake! Let's go!"

"Mommy, do you have to walk into school with me?" Jake asked when we pulled into the car drop of the elementary school.

"No, I've already set everything up for you. You see the lady with the purple dress? That's your teacher. Stay with her and she'll take you to your classroom after she's found all the other students." I answered.

"Alright. I'll see you soon." Jake said, jumping out of the car.

"I love you." I called, but he was already running off in the direction of his teacher, who waved at me.

I'd been a real estate agent for about 2 years now and I was fairly good at it. I knew what kind of house certain people would like and was good at making compromises with the owner of the house and the buyer of the house.

I drove to the newest neighbor hood that I was taking over. The buyers were already there.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I had to take my kid to school." I explained, "Please, come this way."

The silent couple followed. I showed them the kitchen first.

"It's fully stocked with a refrigerator and dishwasher hook up. The sink is stainless steel, and the cabinets are oak and in my opinion are quite invincible. This home could go through a hurricane and those cabinets are likely to still be there." The man of the two laughed and smiled at the house. The woman even looked a little happy with it.

"How's the master bedroom?" She asked. Her voice was a perfect alto, and I nodded to the left, "Follow me." I said.

I led them around and we finally sat down to discuss the prices of things and the placement of restaurants around the town.

"So this town pretty much has everything-" The man was cut off by my cell phone going off.

"Excuse me; it's the school, feel free to look around." I said. The couple nodded in understanding.

"Hello?" I answered, stepping into the kitchen.

"Mrs. Tusselman?" A female voice asked.

"This is her." I replied, "Has something happened to Jake?"

"Ma'am, I regret to inform you that he's being taken to St. Joseph's hospital with a severe head wound, and possible fracture to both his legs and his hips…" The woman said. I was strangely calm for such horrific news.

"How did this happen?" I demanded.

"He was playing outside and jumped off the slide, hitting the pavement." The woman answered. There was no sympathy in her voice.

"Thank you." I said, "Goodbye."

I hung up.

"Mr. and Mrs. Venneman, I am truly sorry for this, but I have to go, my son's in the hospital and I need to attend to him immediately." I informed them and the nodded again and we silently left the house.

"We'll take the house. Let us know when we can begin moving in." he said.

I nodded and backed out the driveway.

Chapter 3

I ran into the hospital in a state of frenzy. Brian was there.

"What the hell happened? Why wasn't the teacher watching him?" I cried out.

"Kelley, you need to calm down, Jake is in the ER right now and I'm just as concerned as you are. Now sit down before you hurt someone or something." Brian led me to a padded chair and I sat. Tears welled up and fell down my cheeks. Brian held me and I soiled his shirt.

"Mr. and Mrs. Tusselman?" a male doctor asked.

"Yes?" I answered, standing up. "How's Jake? Is he going to be okay?"

"It's hard to tell right now, but as far as we can tell, he should make It." the doctor answered. "He's not awake yet, but would you like to see him?"

"Yes." Brian said, and put his arm around my shoulders, comforting me.

We followed the doctor through a series of hallways and when I saw Jake, fragile and broken, lying across a hospital bed, it was too much.

The look on his face was so familiar; it was the look that Jacob had given me when he died.

I went to Jake's side, and took his hand, the only part of him that wasn't bandaged. For an hour, a kneeled at his side, the only sign of life in him was the heart rate monitor's constant beeping. I kneeled there, praying. I asked God to not take away my son. My first and only son.

'You've already taken Jacob, please, let me keep Jacob's son. The last living memory I have of him.' I begged.

As I thought these words, the heart rate monitor came to a constant beep. No signalized ones. I looked at Jake, his eyes were open, but he looked like he was choking.

"Brian! Get a doctor! NOW!" I yelled, turning back to Jake. "Come on, Jake stay with me. Breathe for Mommy. Be brave, be brave."

Doctors burst into the room, heading for Jake. Brian tried to pull me out of the room.

"No! Jake! Please honey, keep breathing. God no! This can't be. Brian, let me go to my baby." I sobbed into Brian's shoulder. My breathing was heavy.

"Kelley, calm down!" Brain insisted.

"I will not calm down. How can you be so calm when our son is dying in there?" I asked.

"Kelley, that's your son in there. He's my step-son, not my own." Brian said, "Just because you and I are married doesn't make him my son. Yes, I care about him, but quit saying that he's our son, he's not."

"He is. Jacob would've wanted you to be his father had he not been there to get me pregnant." I said. His words tore through my already destroyed heart. He just added extra salt to my wounds.

Tears fell and I wiped them away.

"Sir, Ma'am, I regret to inform you that your son has passed on. He was in a lot of pain, so know that he's inn a better place."

"He's with his father, which ought to be a better place." I said. I turned and walked away.

There was nothing else that I felt. There was no pain, no happiness. I tried my best to get better emotionally, but the house felt too empty without Jake.

3 months after Jake's death, I discovered that I was pregnant. Brian was overjoyed and I tried to feel his happiness, but I was still afraid. I was afraid of losing another person I cared about.

So, to save myself and the baby, I ate healthier. I took walks. I went back to work. I did everything that I could to ensure that this child wouldn't meet the terrible end that Jake did. Death was bound to happen to everyone, but to die in such an appalling way, and to die so young…was never something to be wishes for.

And so, at the age of 30, I had my second…and 3rd child.

***I bore twins. Yes, twins. Neither my family nor his family had ever had twins, so this was a very shocking to have these twins.

They were fraternal twins, a boy and a girl: Elizabeth Anne Tusselman and Jacob Samuel Tusselman were the names I chose.

There were a lot of times that I got insanely furious with them, and many more times that I was the happiest I could ever be.

So, as a family, we moved past Jake's death, and I moved on. I've come to realize that there are many things in life that you'll regret, and there are things that will happen that you'll just have to imagine what the other person would be thinking. I thought about what Jacob and Jake would be thinking if they saw me broken up over their deaths.

16 incredibly happy years passed. No major accidents happened, unless you count Jake breaking his arm skateboarding, but other than that and bruises, there were no injuries.

For Jake and Elizabeth's 16th birthday, Brian and I put of savings together and got them the best present we could. We weren't exactly rich, but we did have money.

So, on their actual birthday, we had a small party at 6 p.m., and celebrated with cake and their big presents.

"Smile!" Brian insisted, and snapped a picture with the family camera.

"Is it present time yet?" Elizabeth asked, after all, we'd banned them from the garage, so they guessed, correctly in fact.

"Okay, follow me." I said. "Close your eyes." They both obeyed.

Brian led Jake and I led Lizzie. I placed Lizzie in from of her red Mustang convertible and Brian positioned Jake in line of his Silver Toyota Prius.

"Open!" I said, and they opened their eyes and Lizzie screamed with joy.

"Mom! A mustang? And it's red!" She immediately ran to it and opened the door. She saw the keys in the ignition and looked at me.

Jake put his hand on his car and nodded, a smile on his lips. He looked from me to Brian.

"Thanks. I didn't expect you'd actually get me one." He opened the door and turned the car on. He sat behind the wheel.

"Let's go for your first fill up." Brian said, getting into Jake's passenger seat. I got into Lizzie's mustang and she started the car.

Jake and Brian left first, and then Lizzie backed out of the driveway. We drove to the nearest Conoco. I saw Jake pull in next to a fill up station. Brian was talking him through what he needed to do.

Lizzie chose to go to fill up station that was farthest away from Jake. I didn't need to tell her what to do, she'd already done it before with me when she was 15, so I didn't bother telling her.

At first, all I heard was the music that was playing. The next, I heard the faint sound of police sirens.

It wasn't until the yellow car pulled into the lot for the convenience store that I realized that the driver had a gun. He started firing randomly! All around, like he didn't care who he hit, just as long as he hit someone.

To this day, I still cannot properly explain what happened. I saw Brian fall, with Jake to follow. Their lifeblood poured out from the bullet wounds. I pushed Lizzie down towards the tires of her car and overtook a defensive position.

And out of nowhere, I found myself rushing forward at the driver of the yellow car, and cast myself at him, knocking him down. He struggled and eventually, he pinned me down to the concrete. He lifted his gun to shoot, but I jabbed my elbow into his face. He yelled and I shoved him off me.

I pinned him to his own car(even though it probably wasn't actually his)and punched him until he passed out. A policeman lifted him up after he passed out and nodded to me. "Thanks. You made our job a little easier."

I barely heard him. I'd looked over to Brian and Jake.

They were both very still. I ran to them, immediately checking their pulse.

Brian had no pulse. Lizzie came up behind me as I was checking Jake's pulse.

Nothing.

I fainted.

Chapter 4

Lizzie and I were the only two left in the family. We had to sell the house along with their new cars, but Lizzie was strong, and I think that if I hadn't have had her, I probably would have slipped into some kind of coma.

She was emotionally and physically strong. She held our foundations in place. And even when things were terrible, she was always there when I needed her, and I tried to be there for her, but she didn't need me.

Sure, I felt bad that she took care of me, but she was a difficult person to take care of as it was.

So, we moved into a small apartment, sold most of Brian and Jake's possessions, but we survived.

2 years passed and Lizzie graduated high school and started college. She moved out, but visited often. I worked at a local restraunt as a waitress, and I was pretty good at it too.

One day, out of the blue, I got a knock on the door when I wasn't expecting anyone.

I opened the door, and there stood the one person I never wanted to think about, let alone see, ever again. Memories of pain and suffering surged through my head.

I looked into his medium brown eyes and remembered military camp. I remembered my job at the pizza parlor.

"It's me." He said. He sounded different, but somehow still looked the same.

"Why? Why are you here?" I asked, my throat dry.

"I came, just like I always said I would." He said, "Are you going to let me in?"

"No. The place is a mess." I answered.

"Fine then, can I take you out to lunch?" He asked. I'm not sure why, but I agreed.

We sat down outside at a café, and he looked into my eyes.

"I still don't understand why you're here." I said, breaking the silence.

"Kelley, I want you to know that I still love you. And I've already made this offer once, but your idiot of a father stole you away." He said, "Kelley, let's get married."

"No." I replied instantly.

"Excuse me?" He said, shaking his head as if to clear it. "I don't believe I heard you correctly."

"You heard me. No. The answer is no." I said simply.

"Why?"

"Eryk, you killed Jacob AFTER you abandoned me! I was left with absolutely nothing and you didn't even CARE. I don't give a shit if it was the army's fault that you had to leave. Screw that crap." I said plainly.

"I never-" He started.

"Ah, but you did! It was all you. Your choices, your consequences. You screwed yourself over. It was all you. All of it. Take the blame because it is all on you." I stood up and smiled my victorious smile. "If you EVER think about trying to find me again, I WILL call the police and I WILL have you put in jail. I'm sick and tired of you." I added. He flinched.

I turned away and walked back to my apartment.

In a strange way, Eryk showing up again made me a stronger person. He didn't show up while I was living in that apartment after I told him off, however, he did appear later.

Chapter 5

As I sit here at my desk, writing this story, I have 2 grandchildren and I find myself satisfied with what I have done with my life. Everything that God threw at me was survived.

I even had a lot of good years.

I am 87 years old, Lizzie is grown up and all on her own. I hear a commotion downstairs. I'm on the second floor of an elderly home. I have cancer, not bad, but I'm ready to die. I've written down these records for Lizzie to read so that she knows all about Eryk, and the mistakes I made. She'll know about her half brother, Jake, and that he was the last living thing that I had with me when I was broken beyond repair.

Now, dearest Lizzie, without you, I probably would have married Eryk. I probably would have made more mistakes and as I hear my door open and a gun being cocked, I'd like to say that the one thing I've learned from my life is that you'll have things to remember, and the one thing I will always keep with me is that my life was truly A Romance to Remember.

*BANG*"Hahaha! Gottcha." He said.

Epilogue

Elizabeth

I kneeled next to Mom's grave, crying. She'd been gone for a while, the killer never caught, but I'd never missed her more than I did now. I missed her today because it was her and Dad's anniversary and my birthday. I remembered Dad with much pain, after all, he'd died when I was 16. I remembered my brother, Jake, with much pain as well. Sure, we'd just about strangled each other daily, but that didn't mean that I hadn't loved him.

I heard the sound of a cane clicking against the dry dirt near where Mom was buried. I turned to find an old man with medium brown eyes and bright white hair looking down at me.

"Are you Kelley's daughter?" He asked me. I nodded. This was Mom's worst nightmare, me meeting Eryk.

"You look just like her." He whispered.

I stood up and started to walk away. I didn't want to speak with a man that had caused my Mother so much pain.

"Wait!" He called and I turned, smiled at him and waved goodbye.

I walked on, remembering the story that my Mom had left for me to read.

Eryk

As I watched Kelley's dearest Elizabeth walk away, I thought back to the times when Kelley loved me. I remembered killing Jacob, thinking that if I killed him, she'd realize that he was no good and rush into my arms.

I remembered her smile. It matched Elizabeth's smile. I kneeled next to Kelley's earth buried body and found myself in a state of utter peace. I felt my heart stop and I saw the light, Kelley's face was in it, welcoming me to death.

I walked up the stairwell, young again, with Kelley by my side, all was forgotten of my mistakes. All was put behind me.

It was a lovely way to die.